Maria

Album: Believe Deluxe Special Edition (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Officially, this song is not about Mariah Yeater, the woman who falsely claimed that Justin Bieber impregnated her backstage at a concert when he was just 16. However, it was clearly inspired by the incident and the tune even contains samples from various news outlets, reporting on Yeater's allegations. At a London press conference, the Canadian singer shared that, "It's about everything I've gone through."
  • Speaking to Billboard magazine, Justin compared the song the Michael Jackson classic on the same subject. "That's my 'Billie Jean,'" he said. "It was something I wanted to get off my chest, and I could just say it in a song and get my point across without having to worry about the words I'm using in an interview."
  • Justin revealed to Britain's Fabolous magazine that he nearly quit the music business when the paternity scandal first erupted back in November 2011. "At the beginning of it all I was in Florida, away from my friends and family and I was pretty sad," he said. "I got to the point where I thought, 'I don't want to do this. I just want to be normal.' It was difficult because I'd never gone through anything like that. Usher was like, 'Prepare to have this for the rest of your career because it's not going to stop.' He's gone through some stuff and most artists go through their fair share of bull. That was just my first time."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith

Steven Tyler of AerosmithSongwriter Interviews

Tyler talks about his true love: songwriting. How he identifies the beauty in a melody and turns sorrow into art.

Producer Ron Nevison

Producer Ron NevisonSong Writing

Ron Nevison explains in very clear terms the Quadrophenia concept and how Heart staged their resurgence after being dropped by their record company.

British Invasion

British InvasionFact or Fiction

Go beyond The Beatles to see what you know about the British Invasion.

Roger McGuinn of The Byrds

Roger McGuinn of The ByrdsSongwriter Interviews

Roger reveals the songwriting formula Clive Davis told him, and if "Eight Miles High" is really about drugs.

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."